The Eternal Promise
by NeokoNewman
Summary: “D-do you really mean that Damion?” Dawn choked out, her voice muffled by his green scarf. “You really won’t leave me behind…?” Damion’s eyes settled and he wrapped his arms around Dawns petite body. “I promise…” Twinleafshipping Angst Character Death
1. The Promise

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.**

**I know I listed this as a ONESHOT, but after writing it for so long I realized just how long this thing will be so I might make it a THREESHOT. Though if people don't comment on this chapter I'll just leave it as it is. And yes this is a Twinleafshipping fanfic, but a fanfic none the less. Those who cannot handle Angst and character death I'd advise you to find another fanfic ASAP! And to all the others, I hope you enjoy this story!**

The boy stood by the entrance of lake Verity, watching the young girl's endless tears fall from her large eyes. Dawn was a well known as Sinnoh's savior after the Palkia and Dialga incident however, the region's seemingly unshakeable heroine was now unable to even lift her head. She was now portrayed as a sad little girl who had just lost her father and knows that she will never see her him again. After his funeral Dawn had never stopped crying and never showed any sign of recovery.

Even her childhood friend, Damion could not think of a way to console his melancholy friend and felt helpless watching her in a never ending state of grief. The only thing he could think of to say is "Stop crying or I'll fine you!" but he knew saying such a thing would not make her pain fade away.

He also thought of jumping on the girl to make her fall into the lake with the momentum. He hopefully thought that the rage she would build towards him would get her mind off her loss, but he later disclosed this idea, knowing the girl would never just forget about her late father like that.

Damion was never one to comfort someone on such a serious manner as this. He could not understand her feelings since he barely remembered his estranged father and could not imagine the feeling of losing something he never had. He knew just watching the girl wouldn't do anything, but he was afraid on breaking whatever was left of the girl's happiness, if he were to say the wrong thing.

Finally, Damion could not take the sight of her sorrow and chose his move. He uncharacteristically walked slowly to the girl and sat next to her on the bank of the lake. Both of them sat in silence, with only the sounds of Dawn's sad sobs filling the air. Damion then realized if either one of them was going to talk first it had to be him.

"It's getting late…" Damion stated, his voice far softer then his usual booming tone. "Our moms' are probably worried about us…" Damion looked toward Dawn, hoping for a respond, only to be completely ignored by the girl as she continued to cry. "Please Dawn!" the boy cried in a slightly louder voice. "Can't you just say something to me!?"

The boy's plea shocked Dawn's head up as she looked fully into his eyes as the tears still fresh in her tear fell down. After another moment of silence Dawn's head once again dropped down, but still faced Damion. "…My dad…" Dawn began as her words trailed off. "He's really gone… isn't he…?" Dawn then started trembling as Damion was left speechless with the girl's sudden question.

Unable to answer her question, Damion's head also faced down. "Come on Dawn…" Damion sighed in a depressed tone. "Don't ask me stuff like that…" Seeing how saying this to Dawn did not make her feel better at all, Damion once again sighed, trying to think of what to say. "Dawn… I know-!… I'm sure your dad wouldn't want you to be sad like this…"

He practically wanted to kick himself in the head for saying that. He knew Dawn would not fall for such cliché line. He definitely made her feel even worse. "T-that's not it…" Damion stopped his inner rant and looked back to Dawn whose head was faced up again. "I-I mean… I am sad for my dad… but…"

Damion blinked curiously as the girl stopped speaking. "But?" Damion repeated, obviously interested with the rest of the sentence.

Dawn looked to the shimmering water as she continued. "My father's death had me realize something." The girl tucked in her legs into her arms and rested her head on top of her thighs. "I-I realized… That everything will end…"

Damion's eyebrow's lifted, trying to understand what the girl meant. "What do you mean by end?" He then paused in an effort to think until he finally reached a realization. His eyes turned to looks of pity as the girl stared vacantly at the lake. "Dawn… I know it's hard to accept, but people…" Damion trailed off, not wanting to finish his sentence.

"I know!" the girl cried out, causing Damion to flinch. "I know…" Dawn then buried her face into her legs as her tears started flowing even faster then ever. "I just realized when people die… they leave people behind…" Damion eyes widen in confusion as the girl continued. "When someone dies, they leave the people who cared about them **behind**. No matter how much they are loved… No matter how much they mean to those people… They just leave them behind…"

Damion eyes narrowed at his friend's claim. "D-don't talk like that Dawn!"

Dawn's tears began to overflow her eyes as she continued her depressing claim. "Every I know will either leave or be left behind…!"

"Stop it!"

"Prof. Rowan, Mom, Cynthia, the gym leaders, Lucas…!"

"Dawn!"

"E-even you…!"

**SMACK!**

A loud sound echoed around the area of Lake Verity, causing many Starly to flee in fear of the source. Dawn's head was slanted to the side as a red blotch appeared on the left side of her face, her eyes completely widen with shock.

Damion's hand was still in the air besides Dawn's swollen cheek as his face was slightly flushed with anger. "Dawn." Damion coldly started, his eyes clearly disappointed with the girl. "I know you've been through hard times but…" Damion paused, trying to catch his breath. "If you ever try to say anything like that again I'll fine you a zillion Pokebucks!"

Dawn was literary frozen, unsure whether she should say something back, or go back to crying. Soon more tears began to form in her eyes as she faced back to the ground, crying harder than before. "I…I-I 'm sorry…" Damion merely stared at the girl and his eyes began to soften back to normal.

"That was a really stupid thing to say…" Damion sighed as he skipped a rock onto the rock.

Dawn looked up as Damion continued to throw stones. "What do you mean?"

Damion stopped tossing rocks and glanced over to Dawn. "Saying that I'll leave you behind…" Damion then fully turned back to Dawn and flashed a humble smile towards her. "Like hell I'll ever live you behind!" With all his strength, Damion throws his last rock into the lake, it did not skipped, but merely made a splash into the water.

Dawn's eyes widen, as if she was trying to absorb all the warm and relief that was radiating out of Damion's small grin. So she succumbed to all her previous grief and collapsed into Damion arms, causing Damion to jump slightly.

"D-do you really mean that Damion?" Dawn choked out, her voice muffled by his green scarf. "You really won't leave me behind…?"

Getting over his initial shock Damion's eyes settled and he wrapped his arms around Dawns petite body. "I promise…"

Dawn continued to cry into his arms as the sky finally settled into a glowing sunset. Afterwards, Dawn had a hard time remembering this day, but the two things she'll never forget were Damion's heartfelt promise and the most beautiful sunset she had ever seen.

**Neoko: Well that's all I'll add to this part. If you're interested in pat 2 and part one I'll post those up too. If not I hope you enjoyed this story! Please Review!**


	2. His Passing

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. **

**Neoko: Here's part two of my threeshot! This has a lot of angst and has characteer death. Please don't flame! **

Many years passed since that day. Though Dawn would never forget the pain and sadness of her father's sudden passing, she began her life anew. She was no longer a young girl anymore, but a radiant woman. Dawn happily started breakfast, also waiting for Damion to call from his business trip.

After finally achieving a stable relationship with his father, Damion began working under his wing in order to take over the Battle Tower someday. Dawn glanced around the room, seeing many pictures of her life with Damion spread everywhere. Though sometimes she reflects on the events by the lake all those years ago, Dawn always tried to remember her one reason to keep going.

Actually, now she had two…

"Mommy!" A high pitched voice called from upstairs. It no doubt belonged to Dawn's five year old boy, Barry.

"Yes dear?" Dawn called back, making sure she doesn't burn the eggs her and her son were to eat.

"Have you seen my red bouncy ball?" Barry asked while walking half down the stairs. "Everyone is going to have a town wide game of dodge ball and we need all the balls we can get!"

Dawn giggled at the boy's request. _"Town wide game of dodge ball? How's that gotta work?" _"Did you try the pile of clothes in your closet?" Dawn answered in a teasing tone. The boy wasn't good at keep his room clean, in fact you couldn't take one step into his room without tripping over a Pokemon plushie. Just like his father.

After a brief pause and a few rummaging sounds Barry came half way back downstairs with a large smile on his face. "Thank you Mommy!" He then ran back upstairs into his room to get ready for the (hopefully) fun event.

As soon as Dawn started plating the eggs the kitchen phone began to ring. A bright smile appeared on Dawn's face. "It must be Damion!" She immediately finished setting the table and eagerly answered the phone with the most cheerful voice she can muster. "Hello~!"

However, despite what she thought it wasn't her husband's voice. Instead it was her father in law's, missing his usually gleeful 'How's it going!?' response. "Dawn…?"

Dawn, immediately recognizing the voice blinked and confusion. "O-oh, hello Pal- I mean dad?" She couldn't think of a reason why her father in law would call the house if Damion was already with him. "What is it?"

"Dawn…" The man continued, unusually sounding serious. "I-I…"

"…W-what is it?" Dawn nervously asked, she did not like the tone in his voice. "Did something happen at the tower!?" Dawn's voice became very alarmed. "Where's Damion!?" she franticly cried. "Is he okay!?"

A pause and a sigh with heard over the other end of the phone. Soon Palmer's voice finally came back. "Dawn I… I'm so sorry…!"

Dawn's eyes narrowed in confusion and fear. "W-what do you mean?"

Suddenly the sound of light and fast footsteps came rushing into the kitchen. Barry had heard the phone ring from upstairs and came down to say hello to his father. "Mommy! Is that daddy? Can I talk to him, I can!?" the young boy asked innocently.

However, Barry's childish begging was interrupted by the loud cracking sound of the phone hitting the floor. The child jumped in shock and looked by up at his mother, whose back was facing him. "Mommy?" Barry continued, unsure why his mom would drop the phone on the floor. "Did daddy say something bad?"

Soon Dawn turned back to her son and pulled him into a tight hug, Barry was taken back at his mother's actions and repeated the same things over and over, 'what's wrong, what's wrong?' Dawn, however, ignore her son's questions and continued to hug him as tight as she can.

The tears falling swiftly down her face.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She laid on the couch in the living, vacantly staring into the ceiling. She was still wearing her long black dress and her veil was lazily tossed onto the ground. The only solitaire sound in her house was the ominous tick and tock of the wall clock. She didn't even have the energy to turn on the television in front of her.

Damion's funeral left Dawn in great mental distress. She even went as far as to leave before the service started, but she knew she wouldn't able to take it. Her memory of her father's funeral still haunted her mind to this day. Remembering how stiff and yet peaceful her father was that day, she couldn't believe he would never wake up again.

Dawn knew she wouldn't have handle staring at Damion's cold motionless body in that death chamber they called a coffin. To her she wouldn't have just seen the body of her husband, but also the end of her best friend, a close confidant, a trusted companion, and the love of her life. But what might have been the most important, the breaking of a promise.

Dawn finally found the will to walk again and left the lonely living and ventured around the now empty house. In light of Damion's death, Dawn's friends and family found that it might be best for Barry to stay with Lucas until Dawn could pull herself together. Though perhaps the overwhelming silence throughout the house may have made things worse.

Dawn continued her walk until she reached the kitchen… Where she found out about the unfortunate news. She stood in the exact spot she was when she took the call and even went as far as to pick up the now broken phone. She scanned the room seeing the eggs and plates she brought out for breakfast that fateful morning was still laying cold on the table.

The pictures spread onto the walls that used to give her the security of comfort and happiness, now filled her with the sense of loneliness and isolation. Soon she could not take it anymore and quickly left the kitchen, slamming the door as some of the pictures shattered onto the ground.

Dawn continued her walk through the rooms until she finally reached the left-most room upstairs, her and Damion's room. She slowly entered the home, the bed still not made and her clothes still on the floor. Dawn walked over to her bed and lied on the right like she always did.

Many pleasant memories of her and Damion started flooding her mind and even brought a chuckle or two out of her mouth, but soon all of her laughs came to an end when she spotted the framed picture on her night stand. It was a picture of Damion and herself at Lake Verity, back when they were just kids.

Her mind went back to that day at the Lake all those years ago. She remembered how her tears caused ripples in the water when they landed in the lake. She remembered the chilling wind hit against her as she sat on the end of the bank. She even remembered the sound of Starlys calling out their own names as they flew over head.

But most of all she remembered being held in Damion's arms as the beautiful sunset showcased in the sky…

Slowly, she began to recall every detail of that terrible day, like a photograph finally developing in a pool of water. All the pain and sadness she had long forgotten rushed through her body all at once and continued to pour from her eyes like a never ending waterfall.

Finally at her highest emotional point, she began to talk to the picture before her. As if she was talking to her now late husband.

"Y-you p-promised…"

"Damion… You, you p-promised…!"

She brought the picture closer to her body and hugged it close to her heart.

"D-don't…" she continued as the tears fogged her vision.

"Don't leave me behind!!!" She cried as loud as her voice would let her. "Don't leave me alone!!!"

"…Damion…!"

**Neoko:…DAMION NOOO! I felt really bad killing off my favorite character… T_T I hope this wasn't too much angst… Part three will be coming sometime in November. Please review! **


	3. Her Passing

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.**

**Neoko: I… LIVE! XD Sorry again for my totally late updates… I just have crazy writer's block. I'm sure just about everyone is thinking the same thing after reading the last chapter. WTF~! XD. Now, in order for this story to make sense, we will dive into the mind set of our favorite hyper-active blond, Damion!**

**Damion's Side**

Like all other eager Pokemon trainers, Damion's soul purpose was to be the very best trainer in the whole world. The fact that his own father was a Frontier Brain only added massive amounts of fuel to his burning desire. Not only that but the blond was more energetic and competitive than most people were, so Pokemon have always been the top priority in his mind. From catching new species to training them hard enough to beat any person in his way, Damion had always had a one-track mind when it involved those creatures with such unique abilities.

Though lately, his focus had been drifting elsewhere. His rival and precious childhood friend, Dawn. Up until recently, the energetic blond had only viewed his blue-haired friend only as, well, a friend. In fact she was also a major rival in his quest to become a Pokemon master, seeing that she was the only person (other than his dad of course) he was unable to beat, so her presence only seemed to strengthen his resolve. Though recently, he began to view her in a completely **different **manner.

Damion had once again banged his head against a tree he was currently standing in front of. The teenaged speed demon had made a habit of doing this every time he'd fail at asking Dawn to go out with him. This all started a over a month ago when Damion had asked Dawn to meet him at a local café that Maylene suggested to him.

* * *

After meeting his childhood friend turned crush at the café (he arrived first of course) things went pretty smoothly at first. They would talk about things they would normally do, though Damion made the effort to not mention too much about Pokemon, afraid that he might blurt out "Hey! Let's battle!" and forget his true reason for inviting the girl there in the first place. At one point, Damion decided to make his move, not even bothering to finish the sentence he was currently saying..

"_Okay…" _Damion thought determinedly, _"Here it goes…!"_

"Is something wrong Damion?" Dawn asked him, wondering why he had stopped talking in mid-sentence.

Seeing that he had the girl's full attention, Damion's mind suddenly became blank. _"W-what was I gonna do again?" _The normally motor-mouth trainer nervously thought, staring blankly at Dawn.

"I-is something w-wrong?" He heard Dawn say again, obviously confused by the boy's vacant stares.

Damion had to resist every urge he had to hit himself before taking a deep breath. _"It's now or never…!"_

"D-Dawn!" he shouted louder than necessary.

"Y-Yes!" The blunette answered back, obvious shaken by Damion's forceful tone.

"D-Dawn… I-!" Damion started, his feelings for the girl rushing from the pit of his stomach.

"_I-I'm really gonna do this!" _Damion shouted in his mind in realization. Then a thought far from pleasant shot into his mind. _"What if she says no…?"_

With that thought in mind, the blond's head started spinning with nervousness and weakness he didn't know he had. The fact that the girl was staring oddly at him didn't help much either. Soon, too worked up by his own thoughts, Damion chickened out.

"N-never mind…" Damion weakly sighed.

Far too embarrassed by his blunder to even look at Dawn, let alone talk to her, Damion merely took a long sip from his cup and continued to silently curse himself as he soaked in his humiliation.

* * *

"What's wrong with me!" Damion shouted to himself, loud enough to scare off some Starly who were resting in nearby trees.

The blond had made many other attempts to ask the girl out, only to fail in the exact same way he did before. If she was any other girl, Damion would fear she would start thinking of him as a freak, but seeing that it was Dawn, he could only hope their past history together may keep her from drawing such a conclusion.

"Maybe getting advice from Maylene was a bad idea…" Damion mused to himself as he leaned his head against the tree as he thought back on the conversation that started this humiliating cycle.

* * *

After the Mount. Coronet fiasco, Damion started making a habit in visiting the Veilstone gym leader for some practice battles. Sure he won all of them, but Maylene always made sure she kept him on his toes. After finishing their biweekly battle, Damion found himself on the floor after working up a bit of sweat.

"Great battle today!" Maylene commented before taking a deep gulp of water. "Wasn't expecting your Munchlax to pinball his way around the room like that!"

Damion nodded at Maylene's compliment, but it was obvious that the blond wasn't really listening to her. The fighting type gym leader scowled at Damion's zoned-out answer and placed her hands on her waist.

"Will you stop moping around!" Maylene shouted, causing the blond to jump. "At this rate, no girl would be able to hold their head up by your side! Much less Dawn! MAN UP!"

Damion's face then turned red in rage after finally registering Maylene's insults. "Hey! I'm plenty man!" Damion exclaimed after pulling himself up in a sitting position and crossing his arms. "It's just… It's just complicated!"

Maylene frowned in confusion at Damion's response. "Complicated?" She repeated in genuine bewilderment. "How is complicated? I mean, all you have to do is tell Dawn you like her and hope that she likes you back. Simple, right?"

Damion's glare darken at Maylene's simple response before sighing. _"What was I thinking coming to Maylene…" _Damion thought miserably to himself, _"SHE'S NOT A GIRL!" _

During his mental brooding, a half full bottle of water made a collusion course to his forehead at an impressive speed, causing him to topple over on himself.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR!" Damion yelled while holding his head.

"My mind's eye sensed the malicious intent in your thoughts." Maylene answered in a matter-of-fact fashion as she dusted her hands.

"… _Is she even human…?" _Damion fearfully thought as he rubbed he red forehead.

Before the conversation could continue, the doors of the gym doors, revealing ice type expert with a few plastic bags in her hands.

"Hey May!" Candice greeted. "Hope you're up for a lunch break!"

"Senior Candice!" The younger gym leader cried out in joy as she made her way to her superior. She then took a peek in the bag, obviously pleased with what she saw. "Thank you!"

Candice smiled at her junior before noticing the stubborn blond as he finally stood up on his feet. "Well, well, you're Dawn's friend right?" Damion groaned slightly at being called Dawn's friend, but for once in his life, stayed silent as the ice expert continued. "What brings you here?"

Before Damion could response, Maylene butted-in after swallowing a big bite of her sandwich. "We were talking about him manning up and finally asking Dawn out."

Damion's face then resembled a Tamato Berry. "WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU BLABBERING ABOUT!"

Maylene rolled her eyes at Damion's rage, "It's the truth, besides, Senior Candice could probably help you with this better than me." The fighting specialist then turned back to her senior with eyes full of anticipation. "Right Senior Candice!"

"You have a crush on Dawn?" Candice asked good-naturedly. "How cute!" Damion starting to deny this, but before he could, Candice's eyebrows narrowed in thought. "But isn't she seeing Rowan's assistant?"

Damion's protest died on his lips after Candice's shocking revelation. "H-huh..?"

"I don't mean to rain your parade," Candice started, bring her hands up in surrender, "But they seemed really close back when they defeated Jupiter at Lake Acuity."

The peach eyed boy frowned at Candice's observation before sighing, "Nah, I don't think so." Damion stated as he ran his hand through his hair. "If Dawn was seeing Lucas, she would have told me…"

_"Right…?"_

* * *

"Yeah!" Damion shouted loudly to himself, once again making the wild Pokemon around him jump. "There's no way Dawn wouldn't tell me if something like that!" Damion continued to laugh nervously to himself for a few seconds before something hit him.

"That's right!" Damionexclaimed, "That old man said he wanted to upgrade my Pokedex or something!" The blond then checked his Poketech. "I'm not too far from Sandgem… Might as well get it over it."

It took Damion a few days to hike back to Sandgem as the sun finally left the sky. "Dang…" Damion swore. "It took me longer than usually to get here… I wonder if the old man's still here…"

Right before he could open the door to the lab, Damion heard a loud thud, causing him to flinch. "What the HECK was that! Damion cried out in surprise.

True to his nature, Damion quickly opened the door without a second thought only to find a rather shocking scene before him. There was Dawn pinning down the mild mannered Lucas Damion's eyes bulged out as his mouth open in disbelief. It took all of Damion's will power to silently back away from the compromising scene and closed the door.

The next thing he knew, Damion took advantage of his abnormal speed and raced away from the lab and out of town.

* * *

As much as Damion felt like crawling in a hole for the rest of his life, pride himself on his strict -albeit spontaneous- schedule and whenever he agreed to meet someone, he would move heaven and Earth to keep his promise. Unfortunately for him, this promised meeting was the day right after the he witnessed the most jaw-dropping scene in his life, and to make things worse, the person he was meeting was Dawn.

Making his way to the café (being the first one there as always) Damion vaguely recognized that it was the first place he ever tried to confess his feelings to Dawn. _"Great…" _Damion thought bitterly to himself _"So I basically chickened out in every possible meeting places that I had to start back to the beginning…"_

He was in such a sour mood, that he failed to realize his companion was being as silent as he was. The stubborn blond finally decided to make eye contact to the blue-eyed beauty, only to see the completely downhearted expression on her face.

"Dawn?" Damion asked, his concern temporary making him forget his woes. "Is something wrong?"

He watched in surprise as the girl tensed up at his sudden question and sent him a slight glare before looking away. "Not really." Dawn calmly answered, but even someone as thick-headed as Damion knew that was a bald-faced lie.

Dawn then started looking around the café with a pained look on her face that made Damion's heart drop.

_"What the heck?"_ Damion asked himself. _"Did something happened to her?"_

"Dawn," Damion ventured again, "are you sure something's not up?"

"No really," Dawn replied in a lifeless manner, "I'm fine…"

_"Fine my butt!" _Damion yelled in his head. _"What is with her? Did something happen between her and Lucas?"_

With that thought, Damion's mindset once again took a nose dive into semi-depression. _"Right…" _Damion bitterly groaned. _"Her and Lucas… I STILL can't believe she didn't tell me!" _Damion crossed his arms in frustration.

_"But what if something did happen between them…?"_

The rash trainer's eyes widen at that thought. _"They didn't break up did they…?"_

_"T-Then… I might still have a shot…?"_

"Um… Dawn" Damion timidly called as the girl kept her head down. "T-there's actually something I wanted to talk to you about."

The girl visibly flinched at this, but Damion remained undeterred.

"Dawn! I-I.."

_"W-wait…"_

Damion suddenly thought. _"S-should it really be like this…?"_

"What I'm saying is…"

_"Let's say that she does say yes, isn't that what people call, 'rebounding'?"_

"I want to say…!"

_"My mom says those kind of things don't last that long…"_

"Dawn! I-!"

_"Forget about that! I won't let that happen!"_

"Will you go out with me!" / "Please don't break up with me!"

**Neoko: So… Fricken… Long… To… FINISH! I am SO sorry for the super duper trooper chocolate covered late chapter! It took a HECK of a long time to write, but thanks to my trusty friend and her tsundere ways, I MANAGED TO FINISH THIS! … Now I have to do the last chapter… *laughs nervously* I SHALL PREVAIL! PLEASE REVIEW!**


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